Jet Set Radio 5 Years Later: Deus ex Machina
by Wildcat Jason
Summary: It's been 5 years since the events in the NJSR Trilogy, as the crew and a few new friends go up against something worse than the Golden Rhinos... Ch. 8 up FINALLY! Are you happy! XD
1. It begins

Jet Set Radio Five Years Later: Deus Ex Machina  
  
By Jason Winter (Zrex V.)  
  
----------------  
  
--Tokyo-to--  
  
Ahh, Tokyo-to.... The city of opportunity. Its 4 districts, each with its own time of activity... Shibuya-cho, where the daylight brings out its residents. Kogane-cho, where the sunset makes the people shine. Benten-cho, where the nightlife is king. And Rokkaku-cho, where business is booming 24- 7, but holds its most beauty at night, when its many lights shine.  
  
Five years ago, today, was the anniversiary of the defeat of Goji Rokkaku, an insane businessman with plans of world domination by the city's rudies, graffiti vandals on special inline skates with a great sense of fun. But it was not all the gangs, but a gang known as the GGs. A lot had changed through the years, the city had become somewhat larger.  
  
However, the condition of the town had returned to what it had been over 5 years before. The police were cracking down on rudies after a long time of indifference to them. The police force was led by a man named Syco, with an obvious hatred for rudies and all that they stood for...  
  
Also, a peace that had once been between the city's gangs had been shattered. The 3 ruling gangs were still united, but 3 new gangs had come along to challenge them. A new war was rising to its peak...  
  
But all the rudies had a common interest besides graffiti... A radio station called "Jet Set Radio". 5 years ago, it was a pirate station, but soon went public, until Syco came along and returned to its pirate ways. It played all the songs that had been deemed illegal by the cops. So, using special radios, the rudies listen to the station and its wide variety of "illegal" music.  
  
The ruling gangs were made up of 5 members each. Benten was ruled by techno- freak girls with VR getups called the Vitrua Crush, but during the time of Goji, they were called the Noise Tanks and only contained 3 members and wore totally different clothes.  
  
Kogane was ruled by anthropomorphaholics knowmn as the Anthtro Morphers. They originally came after Goji's demise, the city was once ruled by a gang called Poison Jam... But they went on to bigger and better things and now run a horror film business called "Poijam Incorporated". Like the VC, the AMs started with 3 members.  
  
And finally, Shibuya... A group of very unique in their own ways, and as already mentioned, these were the GGs. When Goji was defeated, they had contained 10 whopping members, but 4 of them left to the other 2 gangs, and the others had returned to Grind City, where they had been before the whole Goji mess. But that left 4, right? Well, that was until about a month ago, when a new rudie had appeared and joined their ranks...  
  
And then, there's the 3 new gangs... Rivals for the ruling of the districts, stopping at nothing to chase the other gangs from what they want. Now, let's join the 3 ruling gangs as they clash with the 3 rivals...  
  
--Benten-cho--  
  
5 feminine figures burst through the streets at night, their VR visors glowing in the darkness. Each wore a t-shirt, jean shorts, and treadlike skates. These 5 girls were named Charla, Tia, Marie, Gum, and Mew. This was the Virtua Crush.  
  
"You see them yet?" Marie asked.  
  
"They've gotta be close." Gum replied "Their tags are everywhere..."  
  
"Yeah, and we just redid this place yesterday!" Charla sighed, the leader of the bunch.  
  
The tags were midevalish, swirling with black red and purple. The girls tagged over them with bright, technoish colors as they moved along. But where were the nuts who had made the tags the girls were tagging over? They were discreetly moving above them, making sure not to be seen. These guys were dressed as knights, with black and purple armor and long capes, black on the outer, and red on the interior. Like the VC, they wore VR visors, which were embedded in their helmets. There were 3 of them, and they called themselves the Knight Riders.  
  
Its 3 members consisted of Arthur, the leader, along with Lancelot and Merlin.  
  
"So, thy think thy can keep thy territory, do thy?" Arthur grumbled "Well, we'll have to bloody well show them who's gonna be the masters of this city!"  
  
"Agreed, King Arthur." Merlin chuckled "Thy don't stand a chance!"  
  
"To the conquering of Benten-cho!" Lancelot smirked under his helmet. And that's when they lept from their hiding places, right in front of the Virtua Crushers.  
  
"So, we meet again, Arthur..." Charla grumbled.  
  
"Yes we do, foolish maiden." Arthur sneered "So, you think you can keep your city?"  
  
"We know we can!" Mew yelled.  
  
"I doubt it." Merlin chuckled "Your reign is almost over, Virtua Sluts."  
  
The 5 girls snarled at Merlin's comment.  
  
"Watch who you call sluts, you freaks!" Marie yelled.  
  
"We can say whatver we want." Lancelot chuckled, as the trio brandished their spraycans.  
  
"Prepare to meet thy doom!" the Knight Riders announced.  
  
--Kogane-cho--  
  
5 figures were out, the sunset making an orange tint on their figures. Each one of them wore a different outfit. One, was a tall man with silver hair and a black jacket with a wolf's head on it, dark grey torn-up jeans and a dark grey shirt with the kanji symbol for "dog" on the front. This was Lobo, the leader. Once upon a time, he was one of Goji's henchmen, but decided he was better suited to Rudie life. The second guy was heavy-set, with a shaved head, and wore a dark brown pilot's jacket with the "dog" kanji symbol on the back. he wore dark brown khakis and a white shirt with a bulldog on the front. This was Canis. Then, there was the girl... tall, slim, and a total babe. She had fire-red hair, a red jacket with an anthro fox on it, a blue tanktop, and black jeans. This was Vix-N. And then there was the tallest of the group, thin as a beanpole. He wore a dark blue raincoat that covered his mouth and was positioned under his hideously large and round nose, black and red striped pants, night vision goggles on his forehead, and his head shaved except for 3 upward-sticking dreadlocks. This was Slate. And then there was the shortest. A kid in a light green hooded sweatshirt, with black jeans. He wore the hood down, with fire-red hair in a short ponytail. he wore a pair of sunglasses with 2 colored lenses, making them look like 3D glasses. This was Yoshiharu, but everyone called him Yo-yo.  
  
"Ugh, there's the damned tags..." Slate said, his voice muffled by his jacket, pointing to a group of sickly green tags.  
  
"Those guys have been real trouble ever since they arrived." Lobo sighed, pulling out a can.  
  
"I don't know what's worse... The tags..." Vix said.  
  
"Or that horrid chemical they put in the water, yo..." Yo-yo added "Correct, babe?"  
  
"Very noted, my Yo-yo."  
  
"Let's just get rid of these tags, shall we?" Canis sighed, as he painted over one of them....  
  
"We better be careful, they might be waiting to strike." Lobo said...  
  
Suddenly, a green fog flew from an open manhole, very close to the quintet.  
  
"Great, here they come." Slate said.  
  
The fog billowed up, and then began to fade out, leaving 3 figures surrounding the manhole. They wore green suits about the same color as Yo- yo's sweatshirt. The pants had a teal stripe that went down from the pockets to the ends of the leg. The shirts had another stripe running down the front, and a radioactive symbol on the left shoulder. On their chest was a small teal air tank with a radioactive symbol, and a tube connecting to a faceplate that went over their mouths. The ight side of the plate was green, and was the one with the tube, and connected to it was a red visor that covered their right eye. The other side was higher and teal, with vent slots. Their skin was white was a sheet, and they had messy green hair to top it off. Anthrax, Flu, and Rabies were their names, and collectively they were called the Disease Patrol.  
  
Anthrax, the leader spoke.  
  
"Ah, so you have come." he hissed, his voice garbled by the mask "I knew you would."  
  
"What do you want, Anthrax?" Lobo snarled.  
  
"I want you and your gang to LEAVE. This is our territory now. You're all washed up, it's our turn to have Kogane."  
  
"Yeah, so get the hell out." Rabies garble-sneered "Kogane is ours now."  
  
"Yeah, RIGHT, yo!" Yo-yo snarled "This is our turf, yo, and we'll never give it up, yo!"  
  
"Yeah, Anthrax." Canis said "Why don't you go shoot up or something... Maybe we'll be lucky and you'll overdose! Hah!"  
  
Anthrax's visor suddenly glowed a bright red...  
  
"Just because we work with chemicals DOESNT MAKE US DRUGGIES!"  
  
"Suuuure it doesnt." Canis said mockingly.  
  
"That's it... Boys, ten-tag 'em!" Anthrax yelled, whipping out a can of spraypaint, the other 2 following suit.  
  
--Shibya-cho--  
  
The sunlight shone throughout the city, as people walked around buying stuff from the shops, taking the buses to see the sights, or to just hang out and talk.  
  
The silence was suddenly broken, as 5 figures appeared from an alleyway. The sounds of their netrium skates crackling as they made a mad dash, the crowds moving out of the way. 2 of them split from the group and began to grind on the stairway near the buses. A figure lept and tagged the billboard. It was a redhead kid wearing headphones and a pair of green electric goggles. He wore an orange t-shirt with green trim, black fingerless gloves, black jeans, and orange and yellow netrium skates with green wheels. This was Beat, the leader of the Shibuya Game Gears, or GGs for short.  
  
The other figure had lept from the bus shelter, and tagged the side of the bus, which already contained a pink tag with a skull in the middle of it, but the tag was quickly covered by the new one. The tagger was a brownhaired Japanese kid with a conical baseball cap on his head, which hid his eyes. His lips were puffy and red. he wore a brown jacket with a yellow shirt under it, with a teal backpack. he wore teal pants with red flames at the bottom of his legs, and golden yellow skates. Tabris was his name, but everyone called him Tab.  
  
The other group also split, one figure trailing behind the other two. The 2 together were a guy and a girl, both black. The guy was balded and wore a freaky set of flyeye goggles. he was lean and muscular, and wore a grey vest, but no shirt, and black electrical gloves. He wore camaflage grey shorts, and grey and orange bootlike skates. The girl had her hair in spiky dreadlocks and a pair of red goggles positioned above her eyes. She wore a tight white shirt that showed off her cleavage and midriff, with 2 red stars placed where her nipples would be, along with a black stripe running down the colar through the center of each star and to the bottom.. She also wore a black choker around her neck. White, tight bellbottom pants, with 2 black stripes running down her legs and ending in red stars. There was another star on the right side of her butt. She wore grey and yellow skates with back wheels. Garam and Piranha were their names.  
  
Suddenly, Tab and Beat rejoined them. The last guy was grinding on the green rail next to them now. And he was a sight to behold. The right side of his long hair was jet black, and the left was pure white. He wore a rediculous pair of sunglasses that totally covered his eyes, and for good reason. They were both ruby-red and were made like a snake's eyes. He had shown Beat once, and Beat had nightmares for a week. He wore a dark grey uniform shirt that went over his waist, with a blue stripe running down each arm, blue cuffs, and blue gloves. It had red buttons, and he wore a blue belt with a silver buckle around it. His dark grey pants had a blue stripe running down each leg, and he wore blue and purple kneepads. His skates were red and purple, with teal wheels. His name was Zrex V. Besides his name, not much was known about him.  
  
They went down some stairs that led into a drainage ditch, and sped through the tunnel, which came to a tall stairwell, and up tp a raised platform, which was cut in half, a crane the only way across, and you had to jump. There was a park below the side of the platform with the crane, this area was aptly named "Park Street".  
  
Suddenly, a shower of rose petals fell down on them, and 3 figures appeared and landed right in front of them. All 3 were female! They had spiky neon pink hair, with lipstick the same color. They wore sleeveless red dresses with white trim, showing off the skull tattoo on their left arm. They had a belt on the dress with an ivory skull-shaped buckle. They were pretty muscular as well. They wore red and white netrium skates, with a red skull insignia on the toe, and another ivory skull on the side of the inwards area and black wheels. They also wore red fingerless gloves. They were the Skull Roses, led by Rika, the other 2 were named Hikari and Sora.  
  
"I knew you were lurking around here somewhere." Beat snorted "What do you want?"  
  
"What do you THINK we want?!" Rika bellowed "Your territory! Now then, give up and go away."  
  
"That isn't happening, yah bitch!" Piranha yelled, pointing at Rika.  
  
"I may be a bitch, but at least I ain't a skanky ho."  
  
"Take that back!" Garam yelled.  
  
"No."  
  
"Hold me back, cuz I'm gonna kill her!" Garam snarled, flinging his arms around wildly while Tab and Zrex held onto him.  
  
The Skull Roses began to laugh.  
  
"Sure you wiil." Rika smirked "Now, you gonna give in?"  
  
"Yeah, right." Beat said "We'll protect Shibuya til the end."  
  
"Very well then." Rika said, and snapped her fingers, and then the Skull Roses whipped out their spraycans.  
  
---------------------  
  
To be Continued!  
  
And so begins Deus Ex Machina. Please Read and Review! =) 


	2. Cops n Rudies

Jet Set Radio - 5 Years Later: Deus Ex Machina  
Chapter 2  
By Jason Winter  
------------------------  
-Kiesatsu HQ-  
  
*BRRRRRIIINNNG*  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Yes, I'd like to report some vandals... This is from the Gekijomae district in Benten-cho."  
  
"Okay, thank you. Buh-bye."  
  
*BRRRIIIIIINNNNG*  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Hi, I'm from Kogane-cho, and I'd like to report some reckless kids on inline skates...."  
  
"Thanks. Bye."  
  
*BRRRIIINNNG*  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"I'd like to report..."  
  
"Vandals on inline skates, and you're from Shibuya-cho?"  
  
"Yes, that's right, how did you kno--"  
  
*CLICK*  
  
The dispatch woman turned around, and sent out the message.  
  
"We've got Rudies, I repeat, we have Rudies causing trouble in the 3 districts... Send all Mook units..." she said.  
  
She got a new call from a cellphone, and picked it up.  
"Hello?"  
  
"So they're messing around again, are they?"  
  
"Yes, Captain."  
  
"Tell the Shibuya units I'm on my way."  
  
"Yes, Captain. Attention, all Shibuya units, the Captain is on his way. I repeat, Captain Syco is on his way."  
--------------------------  
-Kogane-cho Res. District-  
  
"...3 districts... Send all Mook units..." the radio crackled.  
  
"Crap, it's the cops." Yo-yo said.  
  
"Forget the cops, you're going down, Anthromorphers." Rabies said, giving a thumbs-down.  
  
"Get 'em." Anthrax sneered.  
  
"Bring it on, boys!" Canis yelled, whipping out his spraycan, and dashing at the green and teal clad rudies.  
  
"Canis, wait!" Lobo yelled, but it was too late, as Flu shot out a can of nerve gas.  
  
"Aw, craaap... cough..." Canis groaned, as Flu lept upon him and began to spray him...  
  
1...  
  
2...  
  
3...  
  
4...  
  
That's when Yo-yo smashed into Flu, knocking her backwards, and open for a tagging...  
  
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8... onto Flu, until she kicked him in the gut and knocked him backwards.  
  
"Hey, no one does that to my Yo-yo, you BITCH!" Vix said, taking as swing, only to get tagged 3 times by Anthrax before Lobo knocked him away.  
  
Rabies roared, smashing into Slate, but Slate flipped him over and tagged him 6 times!  
  
Suddenly, there was the familiar sound of serens, the clomping of Mook Patrol boots, and the barking of police dogs.  
  
"Crap, let's bail!" Anthrax snarled, after being punched by Lobo, and suddenly, hit all 5 of them with shock gas, and then, the 3 Disease Patrollers disappeared in a cloud of green, pungeant smoke.  
  
"HUP HUP HUP HUP!"  
  
"WOOF-WOOF!"  
  
The Anthromorphers quickly made their getaway, dashing through the manhole, and to their hideout on the docks.  
  
"Damn!" came the echoing yells of the police.  
---------------------------  
-Gekijomae Backalleys, Benten-cho-  
  
"Lets show ye olde metalfaces ye olde shutdown crunch!" Charla commanded, and suddenly, the radio signal came...  
  
"Send all Mook units."  
  
"Another time?" Gum said...  
  
"We'll smite thee before the autorities arrive!" Arthur yelled, dashing at the girls.  
  
"Looks like that's a 'no'." Marie said, grinding a rail and soaring over Merlin, and spraying a tag onto his back as he swung aroud, but she ducked under his fist and quickly ran through the opening, but not without Lancelot tagging her back. But this gave Charla an opening to tag Arthur twice.  
  
"Nice move, milady, but that will be your last!" he cried, and swung his gloved fist at Charla, knocking her into Tia. Merlin took this chance to leap and get ready to tag the girls, but an officer trackled him.  
  
"Get off me, ya prat!" he snarled, tossing the officer off his shoulder.  
  
"Until next time, ladies." Arthur said, and he and his buddies wrapped their capes around themselves and disappeared into the darkness.  
  
"Let's beat it, too." Charla said, and they kicked up their sparkly smokey getaway illusion trick.  
  
"Where'd those kids go?!" asked a SWAT officer.  
  
"Whatever, let's get outta here." said the officer who had tried to get Merlin.  
---------------------------  
-Park Street Overhead Lot, Shibuya-cho-  
  
"YYYAAAHHH!!!!" the Skull Roses cried out, dashing at the GGs, cans ready.  
  
"One... Two... NOW!" Beat yelled, and dashlept over the heads of the 3 girls, and started spraying like mad.  
  
But the 3 flipped around, smacking the GGs, and tagging the front of their shirts.  
  
Zrex quickly backskated, rode the wall and tagged Sora.  
  
Piranha took that little distraction, and knocked into Rika, and Garam tagged her.  
  
"You stupid bugeyed FREAK!" Rika snorted, and made a mad dash out of the way, but was left open to Tab, who gave her 2 new tags... That made FIVE! Hikari was already hit with 3, and Sora had 7!  
  
Suddenly, there came a shot. Luckily, the rubber bullet riccocheted off of Garam's skate wheel.  
  
"That's enough shennanigans, children." came a calm, collected voice.  
  
"Crap, it's Syco..." Tab said.  
  
They were faced with a tall, thin and pale shadow of a man, about Slate's height. He had dull thin grey hair, and small, beady eyes. He wore a blue trenchcoat, tan pants, and shiny shoes. In his hand was a Luger, which could be filled with either rubber or normal bullets. His face showed almost no emotion to it.  
  
"It would be best to just surrender yourselves." the Captain said "You'll be fine if you cooperate."  
  
"Hmm, should we or shouldn't we?" Beat said.  
  
"NAH!" the GGs said, knocking into Syco and several of the officers and dashing down the elephant slide while the Skull Roses made their getaway.  
  
Syco's face became twisted with rage, and now his calm voice was a high pitched roar "GET THOSE DAMN KIDS! SHOW NO MERCY!!!", and he began firing rubber bullets at the escaping GGs, while police cycles rushed down the street after them "PUT UP A ROADBLOCK, YOU DOLTS! MAKE SURE THEY DON'T GET AWAAAAYYY!"  
  
"Yes, sir!" an officer said, and gave the radio signal for the Kiesatsu to block the Center Square of Shibuya.  
  
The GGs headed for that area, and suddenly stopped, noticing that the cops were blocking their getaway... They could run for the channel, but the cops were coming towards them.  
  
"Finally, those kids are mine, all mine, hahaha..." Syco said, a wicked smirk on his pasty face "Where Onishima failed, I will triumph in cleaning up this city. After the brats, Jet Set Radio is NEXT. HeheheHEEE!"  
  
"Only one thing to do..." Beat said...  
  
"Plan Beeline?" Piranha said.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Okay, leaderman, we're with you." Garam said.  
  
"Let's carry out Plan Beeline." Beat said, his face determined under those goggles of his.  
  
The cops were getting closer, and they were just standing there.  
  
"Hup hup hup hup hup hup..."  
  
They stood their ground.  
  
"HUP HUP HUP HUP HUP..."  
  
And then, the cops lept to catch them...  
"HAH!"  
  
But that's when the GGs lept into the air, sending the cops crashing into each other! They quickly dashed through the barracade just before it snapped shut. They quickly made a mad dash for the abandoned ruins, and to the secret entrance to the garage.  
  
"Sir..." a cop quickly tuned in to Syco's radio "They got away."  
  
Syco gripped onto his radio and crushed it like a piece of paper.  
  
"WONDERFUL." he snarled, throwing the crushed radio on the ground.  
  
"Sir?" asked an officer.  
  
"Shut up and get back in the car, you idiot."  
  
"Yes, sir."  
-------------------------  
GGs Garage  
  
"We almost got ourselves captured." Tab said.  
  
"What a close call." Piranha said "We woulda been toast if we hadn't used Plan Beeline."  
  
"If it weren't for the cops, we woulda had the Skull Roses packing out of Shibuya." Garam said "We almost had them!"  
  
"It's a tough life." Beat said "Same thing with the old war 5 years ago... The Love Shockers nearly became the end of the GGs, but we got rid of them. We'll get them sooner or later..."  
  
"Yeah, but then the Rhinos came along." Tab said "And those dudes nearly cost us our lives."  
  
"Who wants ramen?" Zrex asked "Anyone?"  
  
"Again?!" The other 4 groaned.  
  
"I guess it'll just be me today then." Zrex said, off to make some.  
  
"What's with him?" PIranha said "Every time we talk about the Rhinos, Zrex brings up ramen or dumdum pops..."  
  
"Maybe the Rhinos did something to him..." Tab said "We know almost nothing about that dude. He just popped up a month and a half ago, challenenged us, and we accomplished the challenges and he joins. Think we'll ever know?"  
  
"If he wants to spill, he will in his own time." Beat said "Besides, I AM kinda hungry."  
--------------------------  
Next Up: Zrex V: The Arrival Flashback 


	3. The Spicy Ramen

Jet Set Radio 5 Years Later: Deus Ex Machina

Chapter 3

By Jason Winter

----------------------

Each of the GGs suddenly had a bowl of ramen plopped in front of them by Zrex.

  


"I've tried a new kind of flavoring..." he said with a smile, before eating some of his own "Ahh, great."

  


The other 4 each took in a mouthful of noodles, and then, they looked a little... odd.

  


"AAAHHHHHH!!!! HOT HOT HOT!!!!" the 4 yelled...

  


"Something wrong?"

  


"Zrex, this stuff is hella spicy!" Garam said, fanning off his mouth.

  


"Yeah, whoa, what is in this?" Tab said, eating a piece of bread.

  


"Tobasco and jalepeno juice." Zrex said "What, you don't like it?"

  


"No, it's fine, sugah." Piranha said "I was just taken by surprise..."

  


She sampled some more, and was not fazed by it, so she continued.

  


*poipoikpoikpoikpoikpoikpoikpoikpoik...*

  


"I'm allergic to jalepenos!" Beat said, now covered in hives, which were making the sound "Agh, this sucks... And itches..."

  


With that, Beat was scratching like mad.

  


Garam and Tab continued to eat, while Piranha went to get some allergen ointment for Beat.

  


"You think Beat's mad?" Zrex asked.

  


"No, he's just itchy." Garam said "He knows you didn't know about his allergy."

  


*scratchscratchscratchscratch*

"Dammit, ahhhh, this itches!!!" Beat yelled.

  


Tab couldn't help but laugh. And it set of a reaction in Garam, who also started to laugh. And then Zrex laughed.

  


"Shut up!" Beat yelled, scratching "Where is Piranha with that ointment?! Ahhh, itchy itchy..."

  


--Center Street--

  


Piranha was surrounded by cops, ointment in hand.

  


"Surrender now, and you won't get hurt." Syco said over the megaphone "Now, put down the ointment, and put your hands on your head."

  


"Sorry, sugars." Piranha said "I got stuff to do, so out of mah way."

  


"Have it your way. Teach her a lesson."

  


"Hup hup hup hup!" the forces said, charging at the rudie.

  


Piranha sighed, and closed her eyes waiting for the nightsticks to hit... But they didn't. Instead, she found herself in the air, her hands in someone else's.

  


"Hey, Piranha." said the female voice "Need a little help?

  


"Cube!" PIranha said as they sped through the air, spinning over the cops "What are you doing here?"

  


"We came by to visit. After all, you guys helped us out many times..."

  


"Where's Combo and Coin?"

  


With that, they landed, the confused cops coming towards them or looking around aimlessly.

  


The cops got closer... and then, a streak flew through the line of cops, knocking them over... Combo had arrived on the scene, followed by another person, Coin.

  


"Right behind me." Cube replied "Combie, hun, you think you can take care of this?"

  


"No problem, Cube." answered Combo, a giant of a black man, his voice rough and ragged, but his heart as big as Tokyo itself. He wore a black jacket with a greenish blue shirt underneath, and a large black bucket hat on his head that almost hid his eyes. His pants were black, and he wore skates like sneakers. His most noticable feature, though, was the giant boombox on his shoulder, perfect for listening to music or hurting the ears of cops. And now was the time to give the cops an earful "Get going, I'll be right behind."

  


"Right."

  


With that, she, Piranha, and Coin skated off to the secret path to the garage, the cops coming in close to Combo.

  


"We need a little music to lighten the mood, don't we, boys?" he said with a fiendish grin "Here's a song I like to call 'EARBREAKER!!!'"

  


He suddenly, flipped his boombox in front of him and played a song at full blast, making the cops cringe, fall and cover their ears, while he dashed away.

  


"Agh... I hate those kids..." Syco said, his ears ringing.

  


"What???" the cop beside him said.

  


"Ugh... Baka."

  


--Garage--

  


"Hey, guys, I'm back." Piranha said "And look who I brought with me."

  


"Cube!" Tab said "And Coin! Where's Combo?"

  


"Right here, yo." Combo said, coming in.

  


"Hey, guys... aaaggghhh.. itchy!" Beat said, scratching, when Piranha tossed him the ointment.

"Thanks, finally!"

  


Beat quickly ran to apply it.

  


"So, how are you guys?" Cube said. She was a goth, and a pretty one at that. her hair was short and black, with a clip holding part of it to the side. She wore a black tanktop and black pants and black skates, a belt buckle with a skull on it and a necklace with one was well. She also had black fingerless gloves, a small red tattoo on her arm and sun tattoo on her stomach.

  


"Pretty good." Garam said "The cops and rivals are going nuts over trying to overtake us, plus we got a new member... "Triple C, meet Zrex V."

  


"Glad to meet you." Zrex said, bowing to each of them and then shaking their hand.

  


"So, how did you get in with the GGs anyway?" Coin asked "It would be a nice story to hear..."

  


"As soon as Beat gets back... Ah, there he is." Tab said.

  


"So you want to know how Zrex came along, huh?" Beat said "Well, let's sit down."

  


"Alright." Cube said, as they all sat in the floor...

  


"Okay, about 1 1/2 months ago..." Beat began.

  


--1 1/2 Months Ago, Shibuya-cho--

  


_We had just had a meeting between the Tri-Gang alliance about the new threats to our territories, and we were off to get breakfast, but someone was following us, but was also trying to hide that fact. We wondered why he was following us, and when we got to the diner and went in, he came in, too, and sat down by us and asked if we were the GGs. I said yes, and so he then told us he was looking for a good gang to join, and he had heard of us. So, we had a little talk and agreed. He said he would have his challenge ready for us at noon. Said to meet him in Center Street._

  


_At noon, we went over, and sure enough, he was waiting for us. After a bit of talking, we decided I would do his challenges. And so, he directed me up the west hill. Piranha talked about deja vu, because one of her challenges was here. But, he made us start 2 rails behind that... It would be tough, especially the first jump. But, I managed to make it._

  


_Next up, he took us to Park Street, and directed us to the platform over the park. He grinded the rails, leaping from one to the other, and then lept on the arm of the crane and over the ditch, and onto the other side. I did it awkwardly, but I managed not to fall on nongrindable ground, and made it._

  


_For the final challenge, we went to the bus terminal. He started on the rail by the car shelter by dashing onto it, leaping to the rail on the other side, then grinding the billboard, then jumping to the next rail, leaping over the block onto the next, onto the stairway rail, jumped to the other side, lept on the white guardrail below, lept on the edge of the bed of the truck and landed on the platform. I thought I'd have trouble with the first jump, but I made it and pretty much, and the rest was natural, and we won the challenges._

  


_With a smile, he said he'd join us, and that was that._

  


--Present--

  


"Well, good to have you." Combo said "I bet you got pretty much stuck with liking the GGs, cuz we sure did."

  


"Yes, it is good to be in such a fantastic gang." Zrex said, smiling "Any of you want some of my jalepeno-tobasco ramen?"

  


"Sure." Cube said smiling "Hot food RULES."

  


"I'm allergic to tobasco." Coin said. he wore a red baseball cap flipped backwards, a white tanktop, bluejeans, and red and gold skates.

  


"Mmm, jalepenos..." Combo said with a smile.

  


And so, on they went, talking about all the great stuff, plus the bad stuff that was happening now.

  


--Dark Abandoned Building By Tridistrict Square--

  


"You think they'll be here soon, Rika?" Hikari said.

  


"Yeah, I'm counting on it." Rika smirked, and suddenly, 3 black and purple armored figures appeared "Ah, you made it."

  


"This better be of great importance, maidens." Arthur said.

  


"Oh, TIS important. Now, we just wait for the others to arrive..."

  


Suddenly, a foul chemical stench filled the room, and the Disease Patrollers appeared.

  


"What's this about?" Anthrax said "And what are the Knight Riders doing here?"

  


"I would ask the same question." Merlin said.

  


"Oh, it's simple." Rika explained "You see, we all want a piece of Tokyo, but, the other gangs have kept their grip on it. We have tried and tried again, but their alliance is too strong, which is why i waanted us all here today."

  


"Art thou saying WE should team up?" Arthur chuckled "What makes ye so sure this will get rid of them?"

  


"Yes, we can do this ourselves, we just need the time." Anthrax said.

  


"Oh, but not as quickly." Rika smiled "Alone we have failed, but together... we can be unstoppable! Come on, they're strong with an alliance..."

  


"I see your point." Arthur said, turning to his partners for a second and then turning around "Ye can count us in."

  


The Disease Patrollers turned around and discussed as well, with a little bit of arguing, but they also decided.

"We're in" Anthrax chuckled "Let the New Order Alliance begin!"

  


"yes..." Rika chuckled "You can all go back home now to prepare, I'll contact you when it is time."

  


"Right." Anthrax said, he and his buddies disappearing in a puff of green smoke.

  


Rika turned around to the Knight Riders, but they were already gone, but left a note saying they'd be ready.

  


"Umm, boss, what happens after we wrench Tokyo from the TriAl?" Sora said.

  


"Oh, it's very simple." Rika chuckled "Afterwards, we off those other idiots and then take the entire city for ourselves! Ha ha ha... Ha ha ha ha ha... HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA..."

  


Hikari and Sora joined in on the laughter as well.

  


Things were about to get interesting.

------------------------------------

_To Be Continued_

  


A/N: Hey, you JSR fanatics out there! Did you like the challenges Zrex gave to Beat? Well, I challenge you to attempt all 3 yourself until you get it successfully! I was able to do all 3 of these... Who knows, the first person to do all 3 may get a prize... ;) So please do try out these tricks! You may be greatly rewarded.

  


Also, for Lotus, the answers to his Qs in his Ch. 1 review...

The Knight Riders' armor, isn't actually that heavy at all. It's basically made of the stuff soda cans are made of, only a bit thicker. it's only for show, and is pretty weak material.

Deus Ex Machina is Latin for "God of Machines", and this comes into the story a little later... If you read the first 2 books of NJGRE, you'll figure out what I'm talking about. =)


	4. Big Boom

Jet Set Radio: 5 Years Later - Deus Ex Machina  
Chapter Four  
By Jason Winter  
--------------------  
It had been a week since the Triple-C came over to visit, and things were not going so well for the Tri-District Alliance. Their rivals had also allied with each other, and were tagging the crap out of the entire city. Even worse, the cops had begun to get a lot more active, and had set their sights on every single person on inline skates. Already, the six gangs had to break out some of their members a couple times, but the Skull Roses never seemed to get caught.  
  
Today was no different. However, there was some good news for the TDA (Authornote: I will call the Tri-District Alliance this from now on). The Knight Riders had all been arrested, and unmasked. Arthur was babyfaced and had his hair dyed purple, Merlin was pudgy and had his head shaved, and Lancelot was a very geeky acne-infested blonde. Off they went to the Rudie Correctional Facility, probably to be either brainwashed or to be never seen again...  
  
But this was no time for celebration, because the Skull Roses and the Disease Patrol were still bombarding all 3 districts, and the cops were definitely not letting up. This was a bad time for Tokyo, and little did everyone know, it was about to get even worse.  
--NOA HQ-- (A/N: The New Order Alliance is also gonna be acronymmed from now on)  
  
"I can't believe the Knight Riders got caught!" Anthrax snarled "Your plan is starting to FAIL, Rika. I should have known to stay solo..."  
  
"We weren't the ones who failed, Anthrax." Rika replied "No, it's the Knight Riders who were stupid enough to get caught. They failed the NOA, not us. Besides, we'll still destroy the TDA... If the cops could deal with our former allies, maybe they'll be able to bump off some of our rivals... I have an idea..."  
  
"What is your idea?"  
  
"We will lure one of the gangs into a trap. We attack their turf and then force them into coming after us... But one of us will be ready, and not join in, and will call the cops. The rest of us will then get signalled by the caller, and we'll then quickly leave, and let the cops have at the gang. With luck, they'll all get arrested and tossed into correctional oblivion!"  
  
"That sounds very excellent, but which gang are we going to go after, Rika?" Rabies asked "The GGs have 3 out of towners with them at this time, and the Virtua Crush have the advantage of the nighttime, which is where the Knight Riders excelled."  
  
"Well then, there's only one gang to go after at this time then..." Sora said, winking at the Disease Patrollers.  
  
The Disease Patrollers grinned behind their faceplates. This was their chance to bump off their rivals, the Anthro Morphers, for good...  
  
"Very well." Anthrax chuckled "We'll go after those idiot Anthro Morphers, but as their rivals, we think we should attack Kogane on our own..."  
  
"That's a stupid idea!" Hikari yelled "What if the 3 gangs are together at once, and we can't bail you out of the sit--"  
  
"No, I think Anthrax has a good idea here..." Rika chuckled "They'll attack the Anthro Morphers on their own, while WE distract the GGs and the Virtua Crushers! That way, they'll have a much easier time... One of us Skull Roses will call the cops and signal the others, the other 2 will distract the other rudies!"  
  
"Yes, it's perfect, if I do say so myself!" Anthrax laughed "Then let's get to it, shall we?"  
  
"Yes, but let's wait until the peak time of activity in all 3 districts. However, we should have our plan set up fully by then..."  
------------------------  
Brenten-cho  
  
Gum chuckled as she trickjumped past a billboard and tagged a Knight Riders tag. Cleaning up was going to take awhile, but it was also going to be fun. She looked up and smiled, watching Mew get rid of an X-X-Large Knightrider piece... But it was a grueling job... So Gum quickly lept to where Mew was standing.  
  
"Need some help there, lovely?" Gum grinned enthusiastically.  
  
Mew turned her eyes towards Gum and flashed that cute uni-fanged smirk of hers and said "Sure, if I get to paint you afterwards... if you catch my drift, hehehe..."  
  
"DEAL!" was Gum's quick and obvious response.  
  
Charla looked up and chuckled, but Marie just sighed and rolled her eyes and went back to work on the X-Large tag.  
  
"Geez, lighten up." Tia said "What do you have against romance anyway..."  
  
"Tia, you know better than to say that." Charla said...  
  
"Lighten... up?" Marie said very maliciously "LIGHTEN UP?!"  
  
"Now you've done it, Tia."  
  
"And why?! I'll tell you why, no, I'll show you exactly why..."  
  
She dug deep into her right pocket, and pulled out a metal disc, somewhat rusted and cracked, with torn wiring in the centre.  
  
"You think I could forget what happened 5 years ago?! You don't forget about something like that, it sticks into your brain for the rest of your days... I'll tell you why I don't like love, because I can't! I'm too afraid that it'll happen again... I... I... guh..."  
  
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry..." Tia said "I just keep on forgetting what happened myself... it's okay, Marie, he's been scrap for 5 years, he's never coming back... But I guess that still doesn't change anything... I'm sorry, I should have known better."  
  
"Thank you." Marie said with a sniff and went back to work while Tia went off to get rid of another couple tags. Gum and Mew had finished off the tag they were working on, and were about to go somewhere to get their privacy, but that's when Hikari suddenly came grinding past, spraying Skull Rose tags along the way, laughing.  
  
"Well, looks like we'll have to postpone this for another time..." Gum sighed "Come on, let's get that whorish monstrosity!"  
  
The Virtua Crushers quickly grouped up and chased after Hikari, not knowing of the trappy intent.  
------------------------  
--Shibuya-cho--  
  
Combo grinned as I Love Love You began to blare through his boombox as he tagged a long line of Skull Rose tags. He had foigotten just how fun Tokyo was, despite the constant assault of the cops and rivals. Beat jumped over his head, and tagged a billboard, while Tab was getting the buses. Piranha and Garam were having a paint war, tagging over each other's tags again and again, while flirting like mad. Zrex, however was just sitting on the steps, watching the others. His mood wasn't one for tagging at the moment. Cube was off at Park Street, while Coin was checking up on Center Street. He began to look back to when he teamed up with the GGs, how cool they were for allowing him to stay with them... But then came back a memory he wished to forget...  
  
***"You know why you are here, don't you?" said the voice of a woman, very blurry to memory.  
  
"Yes." Zrex and some more voices said together "To seek... And destroy. To destroy those who opposed you..."  
  
"Very smart." she said "Soon, you will be very important to our revenge... After all, we made you what you are."  
  
Zrex could still remeber what he was thinking to himself...  
~You may have made us what we are, but you sure aren't very nice. Why should we wage war...~  
  
"Yes." the voices all replied.***  
  
And that's all that he could remember in that horrid memory. He quickly repressed it and went off to tag a car, when something soared over his head... Sora, who tagged what he was going for.  
  
"HEY!!!" Zrex yelled as Sora flipped him off and dashed down the road. His yell alerted the other GGs, including Coin and Cube, who had just finished checking their assigned areas.  
  
"Looks like they're at it again..." Beat said "But she seems to be all by herself..."  
  
"This could be our big chance!" Piranha said "Let's go get her!"  
  
The other GGs nodded in agreement and quickly skated after Sora.  
-----------------------  
--Outer Kogane-cho--  
  
"Okay, it's all ready!" Rika said "The other gangs are distracted, now you go in for the kill."  
  
The Disease Patrollers nodded and began to emit their toxic fumes, and dashed off to where the Anthro Morphers would be at this time. Rika seemed oddly unfazed by the gas, she didn't even cough or gag.  
------------------------  
--Kogane Sewers--  
  
Slate continued to infinitely grind the rails, he was getting a lot better, over 200 tricks without a mistake. He quickly hopped off to get a small tag. Canis and Lobo concentrated on the X-X-Large tag on the wall, green getting covered in a mass of reds, greys and purples. Vix and Yo-yo... Hey, where the hell are Vix and Yo-yo?!  
  
"Hey, weren't the Yoster and Vix here a second ago?" Slate said.  
  
"Yeah, where did they disappear off to?" Canis said "I thought I saw them duck into that alcove, and I haven't seen them since."  
  
"I'll go check."  
  
So Slate began to go down the steps to the alcove, but he was about to wish he hadn't...  
  
"Umm, Canis, why did you send Slate down there?" Lobo said "You know how Yo-yo and Vix are about something like that..."  
  
"Because the result's gonna be fun, in three, two, one..." Canis chuckled.  
  
"AAAAAHHHH!!!!!!" came Slate's voice.  
  
"EEEEEEEK!" Vix's voice went.  
  
"Dammit, Slate!" Yo-yo yelled "Can't get a single ounce of privacy! It's one thing for me to invade someone else's but I like mine!"  
  
"Augh, geez, Yo-yo, put your pants back on, i don't wanna see THAT!!!" Slate said disgustedly.  
  
Canis grinned.  
  
"Canis, you are evil, you know that?" Lobo commented.  
  
"Isn't it COOL?" Canis said with a grin.  
  
"About as cool as heated toxic waste!" came a voice from above. Then, came the green smoke and the Disease Patrollers right behind. The voice was Anthrax's naturally.  
  
Slate walked up the stairs while Yo-yo and Vix came out behind, their clothes a mess... Vix had her shirt on backwards, as was Yo-yo's pants.  
  
"What do you want now, Anthrax?" Lobo sighed.  
  
"This is your final warning, Anthro Morphers." Anthrax growled "Surrender now or suffer the concequences."  
  
"I think I'll suffer."  
  
"Very well then, I really wish it wouldn't come to this. Since you will not surrender peacefully, we'll make you surrender using force. Flu, Rabies!"  
  
That's when Flu and Rabies tossed down two green containers into the sewage below. That's when the stench got horrific, and sewer gas began to rise, making the Anthro Morphers a little woozy. And then, Anthrax pulled out a red container, and tossed it into the rising gas...  
  
"OH, SHIT!!!" Slate said, quickly knocking his friends out of the way as the gas was set alight.  
----------------------  
--To be Continued-- 


	5. Robotic Revolution

Jet Set Radio - 5 Years Later: Deus Ex Machina  
Chapter Five  
By Jason Winter  
-------------------------  
--Kogene Sewer--  
  
Slate knocked the other five down just in time as a huge wave of flame passed over them, scalding all of them slightly.  
  
"You guys alright?" Slate said painfully.  
  
"Roasting, but good." Canis replied "Let's get out of here..."  
  
"Hey, what about the Disease Patrollers?" Yo-yo said "You think they..."  
  
"No, they're probably in the same situation we're in..." Lobo said "Chances are when we get out, they'll be waiting on the other side. Rodney woulda loved this..."  
  
"Don't remind me." Yo-yo said, still remembering Rodney as Assassin Three, when he tried to bring Benten to flames.  
  
"Let's get outta here." Vix said, and they quickly got up and began to dash down the corridors to the exit which led to the Residential Area. They got out, safe and sound... Almost, because sure enough, the Disease Patrollers were waiting on the other side, and they had paint. And the Anthro Morphers did not.  
  
"Looks like you're screwed." Anthrax chuckled, juggling two cans "Rodney woulda loved to see that fire."  
  
"Uhh.." Canis said to Lobo "Something tells me you've met before?"  
  
"No way, it couldn't be..." Lobo said.  
  
"I'd much prefer electric shock, but a big explosion's just as good... What, don't recognize me, Five?" Anthrax said, taking off his faceplate "Maybe if my voice was clearer... Remember now?"  
  
"Ugh, hello Six."  
  
"Six?" Slate said "Isn't that the guy that was in Grind Square with the electric crap that Combo and Cube told us about? Wait, you were the Bantam Assassin, which means, you used to be... partners?"  
  
"Yeah, that would be right, Slate. I and Six may have been partners, but we really couldn't stand each other. So, Aaron, you became a rudie, too?"  
  
"Yeah." Anthrax replied "Like you, I retired the Rhinos when Goji died, but unlike you, I wasn't so lucky to get away... three years I spent in prison for my crimes, and when I got out, I wound up living in a crappy apartment for nearly 2 years. It wasn't until I discovered you went into the art of rudieism from an underground magazine I found that i decided to take a shot at it mysef. So, I formed the Disease Patrol, and well, now here i am. Too bad now that you know, I have to ten-tag your gang... It's rudie law. Oh well, I was never fond of you anyway. Kogane's ours now... Rabies, Flu... Tag 'em."  
-------------------------  
--Shibuya--  
  
The GGs were closing in on Sora, she was already pasted with six tags, and she could run forever if possible, but having swift rudies on your ass made it tougher. Then, the sound of another spray made by Garam. That made seven... Then, she had an idea, and headed for the road. It was risky, but it may give her a chance to get away. The GGs followed, but when they saw where she was headed, they became cautious.  
  
"Careful, she might try and escape us by going into traffic..." Tab said.  
  
"Yeah, and if we get hit, it's gonna SUCK." Beat said as they skated forward, adding an eighth tag. Sora snarled, and duddenly begsn to dash like mad, towards the traffic... She saw a rail, lept on it, and then lept off it, crossing the road, over a car... But she wouldn't get to the end, when she saw the bus, which, of course hit her, as she made a squawk of surprise. It sent her flying into the air, and then crashing down, right into the rail she had jumped on.  
  
"Oh, SHIT!" Piranha said "We better call an ambulance, man... She may be a rival, but I don't want someone to die, no matter what..."  
  
"I'm on it." Zrex said, seeing a payphone.  
  
"Wait a sec, guys..." Tab said "Do people usually SPARK when they get hit by a bus and land backfirst onto a rail? Or have shiny stuff sticking out?"  
  
"Huh?!" Beat said, turning to Sora, when she suddenly lept to her feet.  
  
"Grrr, how shitty is that?" she groaned, her head on backwards, which she suddenly fixed with her hand, making a metallic crunch as she flipped it backwards. Most of her face was gone, revealing a silver skull eternally grinning at the surprised GGs. The arm that had fixed her head suddenly fell off with a clang. A lot of her was exposed, she had a huge crick in her back. A lot of torn wires were sparking as she took a step forward.  
  
"She's a ROBOT?!" Garam yelled "Then that means... The rest of the Skull Roses must be robots, too..."  
  
"Smart human. We Skull Roses ARE robots. Created to get rid of you and take over the entire city, plus to look for a-- a-- aaaaaa.... System malfunction... Sy-sysystem malfuunctiiioonnn... Mission compromised... Total system shutdooooowwwwnnnnnn....."  
  
Sora fell to the ground with a crash, her systems beyond repair.  
  
"Okay, we've got evil-assed robots posing as rudies..." Cube said "Sound a little familiar? You realize what this means."  
  
"They're back, aren't they?" Piranha said "Well, let's get this to the Crushers, maybe they can analyze her."  
  
Zrex was staring at Sora, very frightened. But he tried his best not to show it as Combo picked up the dead machine... So familiar.  
--------------------  
--Benten-cho--  
  
"Unit 02-S0-R4 has been compromised." came the alert to Hikari, who was currently running from the Virtua Crushers, already with seven tags to her name.  
  
"Unit compromised?" she said aloud.  
  
"Unit compromised?" Mew said "What did she mean by that?"  
  
"Usually when someone means a unit, they usually mean..." Tia siad "Dammit... Marie, check that Skull Rose..."  
  
"On it... Oh, crap." Marie said "My visor shows that her internal structure is definitely mechanical. I smell another Rhino plot."  
  
"Mission compromised!" Hikari yelled out "Self destruct!"  
  
"Uh oh.." Charla said "Everyone, STOP!"  
  
The VCs came to a screeching halt, just in the nick of time, when Hikari exploded.  
  
"Wait, if only one of them was here, where are the other two?" Gum said "They must be keeping us apart... The others must be sending the other gangs on a goosechase!"  
  
And that's when the GGs arrived, Sora slung over Combo's shoulder.  
  
"Looks like you know already..." Tia said "Put her down over here."  
  
Combo nodded and put the robot down on the roof, as Charla brought out the microcomputer, and plugged it into Sora. It began to look through the files, but was very unsuccessful, but did find something interesting. It was Rika's plan to get rid of the other two gangs that they seemingly joined, and then get rid of the TDA, by didviding and then having them get caught by the cops. But that was all that was read, except for the DP going after the Anthro Morphers, so off to Kogane they dashed.  
--------------------  
--Kogane-cho--  
  
The two gangs were smashing into each other, trying to take away spraycans, Canis and Yo-yo had gotten ahold of two cans, and were going mad with spraying. Already, everyone had at least 5 tags on their backs, but the Disease Patrollers were winning. Lobo and Anthrax were extchanging punches, both without any spraycans now, and they were fighting heavily, Lobo getting a kick in the gut. Anthrax dashed with a punch, but Lobo dodged and flipped him over, kicked a can from Flu's hand, and tagged Anthrax the rest of the way.  
  
"Yes, somone was going to lose, but it looks like it's you, Aaron!" Lobo said "Looks like the Disease patrol lost."  
  
And this was true, the shock taken by Flu and Rabies to see their leader lose had gotten them tentagged as well.  
  
"My gang..." Anthrax said "Well, looks like victory is yours, Lobo. Guys, get up and let's get going... Maybe we can find something else to-- Urk!"  
  
Anthrax suddenly fell forwards, dead, a shurikin stuck in his back. Rika was the cuprit.  
  
"Stupid traitor." she snorted "Your turn, Number Five."  
  
"What?!" Lobo said "Don't tell me you work for the Rhinos..."  
  
"Rhinos? Rhinos are dead. Cobras are the new generation. And, i don't work for them..."  
  
"You were built by them." Beat said, along with everyone else following down the steps "Game over, robo."  
  
"I'm surprised it took you this long to figure it out, I was expecting it to take so much longer. Like, say when you were in correctional bliss? Eh, looks like I'm gonna just have to kill you instead. Too bad, it would have been more fun to humiliate you. But before I do, might as well tell you the rest of my mission since 'Sora' wasn't able to finish. We're looking for a renegade unit. It malfunctioned and ran off. Our mission was to bring him back to our masters for a rehaul so he wouldn't run off again. The unit is male-designated. If he's around and you know him, bring him back here. Oh, wait, I'm killing you instead since we can't find the renegade."  
  
"Forget it, I'm not going back." said someone, who stepped forward.  
  
"Zrex?" Tab said "What are you saying?"  
  
"I'm saying..." Zrex said "I'm NOT going back to my creators. You hear me, R1-KA-07?"  
  
"So, you show your face at last, Unit ZR-3X-25." Rika said "I guess i won't have to kill anyone after all... If you cooperate and return to base."  
  
"I told you, FORGET IT!"  
Zrex suddenly threw his sunglasses into the orange water, and his eyes were a neon red fire. "I'm not going back, I like it here, so much better than being a killing machine. I don't care who created me, they didn't create me for a cause I believe in. I... like being a Rudie. The GGs have been NOTHING but good to me... they're more than troublemakers that rebelled against the system and defated our so called masters... They're... family. They're my family."  
  
"Fine. I guess you'll just have to watch all your 'family' die interesting deaths. Your choice, renegade. Hmm, who should I start with? Ah, how about the goth? She was the big cause of all our troubles... No, actually, the boy in the cap, he's the one who kept that record in the first place. Yes, I'll kill him first."  
  
"Forget it." Combo said "You're gonna have to go past me before you hurt Coin."  
  
Rika suddenly tossed 3 shurikins at Combo, which he blocked with his boombox. Flu suddenly ran at Rika to toss her into the water, only to get stabbed.  
  
"FFFLLLUUUU!!!" Rabies yelled, and suddenly tossed a firebomb at Rika, and it exploded! But she only laughed as it burned out. Her entire outer body was gone, revealing a skeletal silver robot, with that eternally grinning skull. She also had an antenna on the left side of her head, and her eyes burned bright red.  
  
"Ahhh." she said in relief "So much better to be out of my shell and to my true self. That human look is SO overrated and it really slows you down. Now, I can kill the lot of you more efficiently, one by one by..."  
  
"I'll go." Zrex sighed "Just... don't hurt them. I'll go with you."  
  
"No, Zrex..." Beat said "You can't, man..."  
  
"I have to, Beat. I don't want anyone to get hurt, especially you guys."  
  
"Dude, don't go..." Garam said "You're too cool for them..."  
  
"Please, go..." Rabies sobbed, holding Flu "They don't want you to leave, but it's the only way anyone will stay alive."  
  
"Rabies is right." Zrex said "I must go, for your safety. Thank you for the good times, GGs... Virtua Crush... Anthro Morphers.. Disease Patrol."  
  
He walked towards Rika, very discontent.  
  
"You made the right choice." Rika said as Zrex stepped close, but hen she said something in robot language... "Oh, I'm going to kill them anyway after I take you back. Haha."  
  
Suddenly, Zrex's hand slipped back, Rika noticed it, and she reached for a shurikin, but she didn't get the chance to throw it when Zrex pulled out a knife and smashed it into her robotic skull.  
  
"And no one messes with my family." Zrex said, stepping back. Rika looked at him, surprised and shocked. Sparks were shooting from where the knife was, and it had been a fatal blow to her functions. She staggered back and forth a little before her systems crashed, and then she fell backwards into the water with a splash.  
  
"You did the right thing, Zrex." Beat smiled "Thanks, we consider you family, too."  
  
Suddenly, someone clapped very slowly.  
  
"Aww, isn't this a touching moment?" said a female voice "The renegade wants to stay a rudie. Pathetic."  
  
"That voice..." Gum said.  
  
"Yeah, I recognize that voice." Cube shuddered.  
  
They all looked up, to see a figure in a black suit, eyes glowing as she stared.  
  
"Kell." Piranha said.  
  
--TO BE CONTINUED-- 


	6. Venom

Jet Set Radio 5 Years Later - Deus Ex Machina  
Chapter Six  
By Jason Winter  
------------------------  
--Kogane-cho--  
  
"So, after five years, you still remember my name..." Kell chuckled.  
  
"Yeah, and we we really wish we could forget." Cube snorted.  
  
"So, what are you doing here?" Beat said "What do you want?"  
  
"We sent the Skull Roses here to catch a renegade unit, the one you know as Zrex V." Kell said "But they also had their own ideas about how to go through with it, so they instigated this turf war. It was unexpected that 2 other gangs would also be planning such, but only for your foolish intentions of your so-called 'fun'."  
  
"That still doesn't explain why you made robot rudies in the first place." Lobo said.  
  
"Oh, I can think of WHY." Gum said "Up to your old scheme of controlling Tokyo again?"  
  
"Nah." Kell said "Why control Tokyo when you can control the entire world, hmm? That's what it's always been about, the world, not you! Why do you think we also had a place in Grind City?! Tust me, we're everywhere. The Mecha GGs were only prototypes... It took 5 years to perfect the technology... From subhuman robots to total skeletal human replicas... But I guess our technology wasn't perfect, or Zrex here would have not defied us. The Devil's Contract failed, the Mecha GGs failed..."  
  
"And don't forget the Swasticators failed, too." Garam said "Or do you remember hiring them to blow up the Rokkaku Tower, and then killing them when they failed? I suppose I should be thankful you got rid of the people who murdered my family, but then again, you were behind them ever coming back in the first place."  
  
"Oh, that trivial incident. I have no idea why we hired them in the first place, it probably would have been better if we did it ourselves. But then again, we had more important projects to work on."  
  
"Yeah, but it looks like it was five years of nothing." Combo said "Your robots failed, plus one betrayed you and is now on our side. Face it, you've lost plenty of times."  
  
"Oh, trust me, it's only BEGUN."  
  
"And what's that supposed to mean?!" Canis said "What have you got planned, hmm?"  
  
"That, you will someday find out the hard way. It won't happen today, won't happen tomorrow, may not happen this week or the next... But someday, you and the whole world will face the wrath of the Jade Cobras. You can count on it."  
  
Kell pointed to the entire group with her bladed hands as she spoke, which looked like they had gotten a recent upgrade, before, they looked just like normal hands, hell, she actually only had one robot hand before, but it seemed that she had gotten two, whether by injury or choice, it couldn't be sure. Her eyes continued to glow that neon red, changing intensity as she talked. Also, she had the front of her overcoat open, obviously a lot more laid back than a normal Rhino or Cobra or whatever, of course thay had never SEEN a normal mook member of the Jade Cobras, so it couldn't be told for sure.  
  
There were 2 other figures behind her, the GGs recognized them pretty easily. One was big, and took up most of the alley. He had abandoned the gi he used to wear, in replacement for, yep, that black business suit. The other was thin and tall, and his afro definitely gave him away. One and Seven. They seemed oddly nonchalant, but then again, they were supposed to be that way.  
  
"Yeah, well, you can bring it on." Charla said "We'll be ready."  
  
"Don't think we'll just do it any time we feel like it." Seven finally spoke "We'll attack when you least expect it, where you least expect it."  
  
Beat laughed "We'll ALWAYS be on the lookout, so I don't think that will be possible."  
  
"That, we shall see." One grunted.  
  
Rabies was still holding onto Flu's lifeless body. How could this happen? The leader and his lover were dead now, he was alone, all thanks to those damned Jade Cobras.  
"YOU FREAKSSSS!!!" he screamed, letting go of Flu and dashing towards the terrifying trio, pulling out a can of nerve gas "You'll PAY for this! DIIIIEEEE!!!"  
  
He didn't even get the chance to throw the gas when Seven whipped his sniper rifle out, and fired, shooting him in the arm. he screamed and clutched onto it and backed up.  
  
"Bad move." Kell said "Now, I think you've had enough of our blabbing, so we're out of here. You're safe, for now. But we will be back."  
  
With that, they turned around and disappeared back into the shadows from whence they came. Everyone stood there, dumbfounded.  
-----------------------------  
--Several weeks later--  
  
Today was the day before the fifth anniversiary of the Tri-district Alliance, and things were quiet, almost too quiet... No rival gangs to deal with, everything seemed to be back to normal. There was an uneasiness, however, everyone was on the lookout for any sign, no matter how subtle of the Jade Cobras starting anything. And nothing at all seemed to indicate they were around. Which was a good thing.  
  
Combo, Cube and Coin had gone back to Grind City just in case the Golden Rhinos decided to hit there first, and the TDA had just gotten word that there was absolutely nothing Cobra-related. Howver, the new had also come that they had gained a new member, changing them from the Triple C to the C-Quartet, a dude by the name of Clutch.  
  
As for Rabies, he had gone through an overhaul. He had dyed his hair black. He now wore a black jacket a black shirt and black pants. He had the same skates, which sort of clashed, being green, but it was the last memory of Flu he had, so he stuck with it. His arm was in a sling, thanks to being shot in the shoulder by Seven. He sighed as he looked out into the Kogane sunset, and pulled out a pic of him with his fellow Disease Patrollers. He called himself Takaishi now, his real name. He wasn't a member of any gang at the moment, and he didn't plan to. He was a loner now, a renegade. When his arm got better, he was gonna set this city up in green and black, his new personal tag colors. And maybe, start his own gang someday. The Black Plague, he thought was a good name. He dashed off into the shadows to his hideout. Tomorrow was gonna be sweet. While the TDA met and celebrated, he'd be leaving his mark. He tried to move his arm, and it moved with very little pain. He smirked, his arm was good enough.  
---------------------------  
--Someplace--  
  
A dark room, badly lit shadows 5 figures, at a table playing a card game.  
  
"Have any threes?" said one of them.  
  
"Go fish, Eleven." the others replied.  
  
"Woohoo, a three. Your turn, Seven."  
  
"Got any jacks?" Seven replied, fluffing his afro.  
  
Three of them groaned, and have Seven their jacks.  
  
"Ho ho ho, this isn't merry for me..." said another one of them.  
  
"Looks like Seven wins." Eleven sighed.  
  
"This is getting boring." answered One "When are we gonna go out and do some damage?"  
  
"As soon as Kell gives the word." Seven said "I'm tired of waiting, too, but I'll hafta wait."  
  
Eleven tapped his biker gloved fingers on the table, holding his black cobra-head-shaped helmet in his other arm.  
"I hate waiting, I wanna do some damage NOW."  
  
"Hohoho, so impatient, Eleven." Ten answered, stroking a bomb, a santa hat on his head and fluffed cuffs on his suit "We'll give our gifts very soon, hopefully. All those rudies are goin' on my naughty list."  
  
Nine was eerily silent, as usual. He stroked his katana and nodded in agreement with Ten. Suddenly the door creaked open, and Kell entered.  
  
"The time has come, gentlemen." she hissed "The master says it's the right moment... Tomorrow, we should be in Tokyo... And then, we'll turn it to ruins, and clense the planet of every single rudie in existance... Except for Seven and One, you will go to Grind City to take care of the Triple C. The rest of you are going to Tokyo. You should be able to take care of the rudies, AND that stupid renegade cyber unit."  
  
"That traitor will pay for betraying us." Nine finally spoke.  
  
"Yes, pay indeed." Eleven said, pushing his antenna back into his head and putting on his helmet.  
  
"Hehe, hohoho." Ten laughed, juggling his bomb "Time to wish those kids a very unmerry day..."  
----------------------  
--TDA Central, the next day--  
  
"Today, we celebrate." Beat said "Celebrate 5 years of allied happiness!"  
  
"Did you get everything out and ordered?" Charla asked.  
  
"Yup." Lobo replied "Pizza, soda, Cheetos, some beer for the older folks, more pizza... aaand... ramen."  
  
"Heh, who knew a bio-android could consume so much ramen without damaging his systems.." Gum said.  
  
"From the physical checkup and software tuneup we gave, it seems these robots have an artificial digestive system to fit in with humans. pretty unnessecary, if you ask me." Charla said.  
  
"Hey, is it just me, or is Rabies not around anymore?" Garam said.  
  
"You must mean Takaishi." Vix replied "He's been tagging some minor spots in Kogane with his new tag style... I think we've got one of them renegades... he hasn't tried anything major, though, so I wouldn't worry."  
  
"Yeah, me either." Yo-yo smiled.  
  
"Maybe he'll show some spirit and celebrate with us." Piranha said.  
  
"We can only hope." Beat said... "Let's get this party started as soon as Professor K announces..."  
  
"J-J-JET SET RADIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" blared the Professor's voice on the radio "Hey, all you rudies and listeners alike out there! Today is the FIFTH ANNIVERSIARY of the biggest Rudie alliance alive... The Tri-District Alliance! And it couldn't be better! We got rid of the New Order Alliance, kinda freaky how the Skull Roses were bots! And it appears our old friends, the Golden Rhinos, renamed the Jade Cobras were behind it! And their mission was to look for Zrex V, a renegade robot... Congrats, Zrex, for refusing those fools! I wonder where they are now? Hiding under a rock, I bet! Also, condolances go out to Takaishi, formerly Rabies of the Disease Patrol, for the death of his girlfriend and his leader by those evil maniacs! Don't be shy, man, if you're out there, somewhere, listening, the TDA will be glad to have ya! J-J-JET SET RADIO! Party on, Tri-dye! And here's the first song, the one that started it all... Let Mom Sleep! In a special... NO SLEEP REMIX! Jet Set Radio!"  
  
With that, the music began to play, and the party had begun.  
--------------------------------  
--Outer Rim of Tokyo-to, several minutes later--  
  
Black helicopters and back cars zoomed onto the mainland from an aircraft carrier, and onward into Tokyo... The Jade Cobras were making their move!  
  
--TO BE CONTINUED-- 


	7. Party Poopers

Deus Ex Machina

Chapter Seven

By Jason Winter

They danced, they ate, they talked… This party was a lot of fun. Almost anything that Jet Set Radio had to offer was being played. Too bad all this fun wouldn't last much longer. The broadcast of smooth sounds suddenly stopped. Prof. K had something to say.

"We've got a problem." he said, his voice very serious "It seems that we're…"

Then, there was static. His voice came again, but too static-ified to be understood… More static, and then it became clear, a spooky song even spookier than Grace & Glory took over the broadcast. And then, a voice unknown to them spoke.

"Hello, Tokyo-to." it said, male, very rough "We interrupt this broadcast to say that Tokyo is under siege."

There were murmurs from everyone in the party crowd, who was this mysterious interruptor and what did they mean by "under siege"?

"Tokyo would not be in its current state if a certain group of kids had not messed with us five years ago. Your city would currently be under the empire of the great Goji Rokkaku. But that was not to be, thanks to those meddling brats. Goji died, and we were weakened… But we came back strong, only to have everything interfered with yet again by the Rudies! Our new master has been waiting for years to return and get his revenge on you, and that time begins NOW. Forget us being nice, this time, no one is safe!"

Everyone began to panic. They hadn't expected this… But then again, they were warned that it would come when they least expected it. And this was that time it seemed.

"Looks like we've got another battle on our hands." Garam said "And just when everything was going so well."

"How dare they ruin our party!" Yo-yo said, finishing off his slice of pizza "I was having so much fun, and now this happens."

"Don't worry, we'll clean up the city." Mew said "I mean, we've done it before, haven't we? Against greater odds, too…"

"Yes, but we have no idea how powerful the Jade Cobras are." Lobo said "Even I was in the dark about the most mysterious sub-division of the Rokkaku Mafia. And by what we've seen so far, they look like they're very dangerous."

"Well, why don't we ask Zrex, maybe he knows?" Canis said.

"I don't know much of anything, only that they created me to destroy you." Zrex admitted "Everything else I was kept in the dark about, probably because I was not needed as of yet. However, I DO know if something like me was created, they'll have things a lot more powerful than what you said the Golden Rhinos had…"

"Okay, I hear ya." Charla said "So, what are we going to do?"

"We'll send two of our best in each gang to investigate what's going on in the city." Lobo said "Two just in case one gets attacked or hurt."

"Sounds like a plan." Beat replied "And if both are hurt?"

"We'll give them a 30 minute time period to investigate and come back." Charla replied "If they don't the rest of us will go and try to find them."

"Sounds good."

"I choose Yo-yo and Vix." Lobo said "No reason any of the leaders should go, we're needed."

"Okay, Tab and Piranha. I agree about us needing to stay."

"Gum and Marie." Charla said "You are the best in that you both know how to survive."

"Okay, you got it." Vix said, the other chosen nodding in agreement "But, what about Zrex, he knows the Cobras…"

"We need to keep him here, he may be our last line of defense." Beat said.

"Uhh, where is Zrex anyway?" Slate said "He was here one second and now he's gone."

"Great, he must have run off by himself. If you guys see him, make him a part of your group."

"Got it." Tab said "What about our rebellious friend?"

"Zrex probably went off to find him." Tia said "We'll need all the help we'll get, I'm sure."

"Okay, let's move out." Lobo said,. As the six Rudies dashed out to their own districts.

Shibuya-cho

Zrex was already dashing through the Bus Terminal, and everything was quiet… Too quiet. Usually, the place would be just bustling with people around this time, but right now, everything looked empty and abandoned. Must have heard the broadcast, the people.

"Yo, Takaishi?!" he yelled aloud "You hiding somewhere?! I know you probably don't want to, but we need your help!"

"He's not, but I am." said a familiar voice. Zrex turned around to see the speaker. A short man with short black hair and a large chin stood before him.

"Hey, aren't you Koushiro Onishima?"

"Yeah, that would be me. Former Rudie-loathing captain of the Tokyo Police Force, and before that one of the first founders of Rudieism."

"Whose side are you now anyway? I heard you're sympathetic to our cause now."

"That I am. Who do you think provided the pizza to your party? That's what I do now, I make pizzas. I'm too old to be a Rudie, to softened to be a cop."

"Well, you'll help, then?"

"Might as well. I still have my old gun." Onishima said, running quickly to his shop and getting it "Alright, let's go. Where do you think we can find this Takaishi kid?"

"Maybe Kogane, because that's where his gang's from. If it's his natural place to hang out at, that's probably where he is."

"Right."

Onishima and Zrex went on their way to Kogane, as Tab and Piranha came around. Neither party noticed each other.

"Okay, so where do we first look?" Piranha said.

"I think we'll go to the outskirts, I think they'd probably start from there and move inward." Tab said "So we go to Center Street, that's furthest outside of town."

"That won't be necessary." said a voice, and then the sounds of screeching tires.

"I don't think we have to find them, because they just found us." Piranha sighed.

Benten-cho

"I don't see Zrex anywhere." Marie said, looking through her night vision moded visor "Nor can I see anyone else around. Must be hiding out. But where's the Cobras?"

"Probably outside of the city limits." Gum replied "Gekijomae's probably not the best place to look. We can probably see more if we go to Chinatown."

"Yeah. Let's go across the circle, through the fence, and there that way."

So, they quickly grinded a rail and jumped through the gate and ran to Chinatown, and went up the tower to look.

"See anything?" Gum asked.

"No guys in black business suits, but plenty of dudes in trenchcoats and large-brimmed hats." Marie replied "Uhh… With what look like cobra pendants on the hats… Looks like they're made of some sort of green gemstones.."

"They're made of jade, Marie… Oh, shit, we're surrounded."

"Great. Just great."

Kogane-cho

"Takaishi!!!" Vix called out "You around?!"

"YO YO YO YO!" Yo-yo yelled "You around, yo?!"

They continued to go through the deserted Residential Area, nothing. Until they came across a whole lot of Takaishi's tags. Yo-yo put his finger to one, it was fresh.

"Well, he was here just a few minutes ago, this tag's still wet. You know, if we weren't in danger, I'd make out with ya right now."

"Looking for Takaishi?" Zrex's voice.

"Well, THERE you are!" Vix said "What are you doing? And who's that?"

"Oh, hey, Onishima." Yo-yo said "The pizza was fantastic."

"Thank you." Onishima smiled "So, now that we're all here, maybe we can find him."

"That won't be necessary." came a voice, and they looked up to see Takaishi standing above them, being held at gunpoint by a Jade Cobra. Suddenly, there was a multitude of clicks, and they were surrounded.

Grind City. Bantam Street

"Woo-hoo!" Clutch cheered as he performed one of the hardest tricks to pull off in Bantam "That was cool!"

"You sure learn fast, Clutch." Coin said, smiling and nodding "It took me about a year to master that one."

"brother, it's great to have you on the team." Combo said, with Cube in his non boombox arm.

"Yeah, that was sweet." Cube said.

"I wonder how your friends in Tokyo are doing." Clutch said "I sure hope I'll get to meet them someday."

"You will, trust me." Combo said.

"You won't live to see it if you don't start running." said a female voice. A girl was standing in the shadows, her blue scarf blowing in the wind.

"Well, if it isn't Jazz the Rebel." Coin said "And what do you mean by that?"

"What I mean…" Jazz said "There's this huge group of these weird dudes in trenchcoats and hats coming this way, and they've got guns… They're also being led by two guys and some strange chick in black suits."

"It's the Cobras, they're here in Grind City…" Cube said "So, we gonna stand our ground and fight, or run away like babies?"

"I'm not running." Clutch said "From what you've told me, if we leave this city, if we ever return it'll be in ruins. And I've lived in the Grind my whole life. I'm not gonna let a bunch of two-bit mobsters take over my home."

"I'm not running, I've got a score to settle with Kell."

"Me either, I'll stay and protect you." Combo said.

"As leader, I need to keep Grind City clean of these guys… I remember what happened the last time I didn't watch my back." Coin said, his face now very serious.

"Ah, what the hell, got nothing better to do with my time." Jazz chuckled "Count me in."

"Alright then, let's do this."

Tokyo-to Recreational Complex

A new Cobra announcement was suddenly broadcast.

"Hello again, Rudies of Tokyo-to." that same voice announced "As of now, we've taken 6 Rudies, the traitor Zrex, the rebel Takaishi, and former officer Koushiro Onishima hostage. If you want them to live, we suggest you surrender. You have twenty-four hours to make your choice. You can rebel, but we have almost every member waiting… Oh, except for the ones that were sent to Grind City. Hope your friends there don't get hurt… Oh wait, they'll be dead soon enough. We haven't captured them just yet. Anyway, we leave you with our classic hit, Grace & Glory, which we have made a funky remix of. Enjoy."

"Well, that went well." Lobo said "Now what are we gonna do?"

"We've got a whole day to free our city or surrender…" Charla said "I say we bide our time and plan a rebellion, and if that doesn't work…"

"We surrender after that, then." Beat said "Who knows what these new guys have up their sleeves."

To Be Continued


	8. Anticlimax

****

Deus Ex Machina

Chapter Eight

By Jason Winter

Author's note: This fic has been long long overdue for an update, I know. I don't think I've written anything new for it since about this time in '03. My writing has not been what it used to be, and I only have short bursts of inspiration when it comes to writing stuff these days. But anyway, enough of my blabbing… Here's the long awaited (yeah, right!) next chapter in the JSR25YL storyline. Enjoy!

__

Kogane-cho

"Well, THIS is convenient…." Vix sighed, raising her hands in the air along with everyone else.

"Hehe, very good…" chuckled the guy holding Takaishi at gunpoint, this squad's leader. He pulled out a comlink. "I have the traitor, repeat, I have the traitor. You'll inform the others? Excellent."

He then turned to the rudies, but not before klonking Takaishi over the head with his gun. He fell unconscious on the rooftop.

"Now then… We all have an entire day to wait before we… oh, kill you, regardless of whether your friends surrender or not. So, let's aaaaall get nice and comfy, sit back, shut up, and enjoy the last 24 hours."

The comlink sparked to life yet again.

"Yes, what is it now?" Uh huh… A ha… Yes, I'll do it right away." he now looked down, and pointed to Zrex "You, come forward."

"How about… NO." Zrex replied, standing firm and defiantly.

"Do it, or you can watch your friends' brains splatter all over the street. Haha, friends… what a concept for a robot, eh?"

Zrex growled, and began to walk forward… A plan had come to mind, all he had to do was provide the distraction to let his friends get away. He continued to walk toward where this nut was now pointing him to… One of their cars. His skates scraped along the road, and just as he was nearing the door, one of them waving him towards the door to get in, and he began to do so, and suddenly kicked out with his leg, knocking the guy backwards.

"What?! FIRE!!!" the commander yelled. At the moment of the kick, everyone had hit the dirt, and kicked out knocking these guys over, their balance off when they had raised their guns, and then they made a run for it, bullets whizzing by, hitting objects "Aaargh! Forget them! Get the robot, he's the one that's important!"

Zrex had already made a mad dash behind the car, bullets struck him, but being a robot, that did not really matter. Suddenly, the commander reached for something on his belt, a small device, and pressed it. There was a hum and a loud bang. Electronics went blank, lights burst, and Zrex fell, completely motionless.

"What was that?!" Yo-yo asked, looking from an alleyway.

"Could have been only one thing." Oni replied "An EMP blast… takes out anything electrical in a specific radius… Tried using it against the Nose Ta-- er, the Virtua Crush sometimes…"

"Meaning?!" Vix responded.

"Zrex's functions have probably ceased… I don't think he could have gotten out of the radius… Look." Onishima's digital watch had stopped dead. "Pretty damn big radius."

"So Zrex… is… dead?"

"No, just completely nonfunctional… They could reprogram him when they fix his electronic devices… I don't think they'll just trash something so important to whatever they're doing."

"So he's still pretty much dead." Yo-yo sighed "We need to get outta here, and tell the others, yo."

Meanwhile, the Jade Cobras picked up Zrex's body, and tossed it into the car. As for Takaishi, they left him laying there unconscious.

"Weren't we supposed to kill them?" asked one of them.

"Yes." the commander replied "But the robot is much more important… The next time those kids see him, if they live through this… They'll get to watch their own… hehe… friend slaughter them all like cattle."

With that, the cars screeched off.

__

Shibuya-cho

Tab and Piranha looked for a way out, but all the paths were blocked by either the Cobras or their cars.

"Trapped." Tab sighed.

"Going somewhere, boys and girls.. Or rather boy and girl?" laughed a voice, as they got out of one of the cars. A man stood there. Like Kell, he seemed to be partially robotic, only it was his feet (and probably his legs), along with most of the left side of his face and his right arm. He had a very evil grin, one of his teeth shined gold. He had black waist-length hair that was tied back in a ponytail, and carried a short sword on his belt. He was skinny as a rail as well.

"And who the hell are YOU?" Piranha scoffed.

"I am High Commander Jirachi." the stick of a man replied "And you shouldn't scoff at me… Or you'll be real dead real fast. But… that's not on our agenda yet."

For a stickman, he seemed really threatening, a very malicious aura about him. He'd probably kill anyone without any hesitation, and laugh while doing it. So these guys actually had ranks… The only one they had really known was the Assassin kind, but this guy was a High Commander.. They wondered in their minds if this was Kell's rank, too, but this was not the time to be thinking of such things. They were trapped like rats by some dude that was probably a psycho. Once again, he spoke.

"Don't worry, this will all be over soon… In just a little less than a day all of you will be dead. Oh your friends THINK we're gonna just stop when they give in, but what's a takeover without the loss of precious.. And I say precious as an exaggeration… Lives."

He suddenly got a call.

"What? You got him? Excellent! Huh? The boss wants us to leave? But-- Can I at least kill the Rudies in my capture? What do you mean no?! Alright, alright. Jirachi out."

"So you're just gonna let us go?" Tab asked in disbelief.

"Eh…. Kill 'em anyway."

"But you heard the boss!" one protested.

"I don't care. Get rid of them. Kill them both."

And suddenly, Jirachi cried out in pain, his mechanical parts sparking.

"Urgh, fine… This is what I get for defying.. Orders! Ouch! Move out…"

With that, he got back in his car, as did the rest of the Cobras, and they drove off.

"That was lucky." Piranha said.

"Yeah, but they'll be back… sounds like all this was a recon mission. They must've… found Zrex or someth--"

And that's when a loud explosion sounded. From a familiar direction.

"The Garage!" Tab yelled in panic, as he and Piranha burst forward towards the familiar area, just to see the now burning hulk of what used to be their hangout. There was a moo, and Potts trudged over to them, looking no worse for wear. He also had a note slipped into his scarf.

"Shit, this.. This.. Really.. SUCKS!!!" Piranha shrieked, and looked at the now burning garage.. Their home… gone.

"Verily…" Tab sighed, picking up the dog and headed back towards the central complex. He looked back for a moment before moving on.

__

Benten-cho

And no sooner did the Cobras advance on the girls did they turn back. They looked on in disbelief…

"Something must be up…" Marie muttered.

"Definitely…. They wouldn't leave unless it was something REALLY important…" Gum replied "Let's get back to TDA central on the double."

__

TDA Central

The leaders of the three gangs continued brainstorming and planning their next move, when suddenly Tab carrying Potts, and Piranha skated in.

"How… did you guys escape?!" Beat asked, quite surprised.

"We didn't…" Piranha sighed "They left us, but not without sending us a little message first…" 

"Message?"

"They blew up the Garage, man… They blew it to hell." Tab said uneasily "And.. They gave this letter… I haven't opened it yet, but they had put it on the dog…"

"The Garage… is… gone?" Garam asked, his mouth agape and staying there."

Piranha nodded sadly.

"We've also got a new problem" Tab said "A new guy… a High Commander named Jirachi… Stick thin, but completely creepy… and a real Kell vibe to him… he's part robot, like she is… He was gonna kill us instead of letting us go, but whoever rules these guys now put him in his place via overloading his robot bits… And he left…"

Beat shook his head "The Garage…gone… These guys knew exactly what and where to strike… They never intended on staying…"

And once again, the radio was interrupted, by a familiar voice.

"Too true… I do wish I coulda had a nice mass slaughter slash barbecue, but.. Hehe… We have the treacherous unit… That's all the master wanted… for now…"

"That would be Jirachi." Tab said.

"Oh yes… how did you like our little garage renovation?! Hee hee hee!"

"You'll pay for this, you hear?" Beat growled.

"Just read the letter already… Ta-ta!"

And with that, their interrupting broadcast shut down and Jet Set Radio began to play once more.

Beat ripped open the letter and read it.

"Dear Rudies,

If you're reading this, we've got what we wanted. Oh yes, and we blew up the GG Garage… just consider it payback for what you did five years ago… We will return soon enough and this time it WILL be an assault on the cities… next time, you won't live… Too bad, we wish we could let you watch as the planet became ours. Also, Grind City… We're gonna destroy it today anyway. So it would be a good idea to mourn your friends there… After all, it was they who led to our first… downfall.

Farewell,

The Jade Cobra Emperor"

"Shit.. They're gonna destroy Grind City today…" Beat stammered "I just hope the C's can handle 'em…"

"They will." Charla said "I don't doubt 'em for a minute. Just you see, they'll be calling us any time now."

Everyone in the room hoped so. Soon enough, Marie and Gum came in and were filled in, and then Yo-yo, along with Vix, Onishima, and the unconscious Takaishi gave the news about Zrex's capture. This was a sad day for the Rudies.

A bit later, Combo called up and told them that they had managed to chase the Cobras out of Grind after a long, hard battle…

"Fill us in." the three leaders said.

"Alright…" Combo began.

End Chapter 8

Next Time: Combo tells the story of the battle of Grind City! Stay tuned.


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